The present invention relates to a method of making a turbocharger housing.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Internal combustion engines for motor vehicle are increasingly charged through provision of a turbocharger in order to realize efficient fuel consumption. Turbochargers are exposed during operation to significant mechanical stress and in particular thermal stress. At the same time the weight of such an assembly should be as small as possible so as not to adversely affect the overall weight of the motor vehicle and thus fuel consumption.
German patent document DE 100 22 052 A1 attempts to attain sufficient service life despite the exposure to high stress and the need for small weight by proposing to construct superchargers using sheet metal and to separate the exhaust-carrying components from the supporting or sealing outer structure. Practice has shown, however, that the manufacture of such turbocharger designs in sheet-metal construction becomes very difficult to implement.
In general, a gap is provided between the turbocharger housing and the turbine wheel. The width of the gap plays a crucial factor for the effectiveness of the turbocharger. When producing sheet-metal housings through a forming process, such as e.g. deep-drawing or compression, the manufacturing tolerances are inadequate and become even greater as a result of thermal joining processes. These fluctuations of the tolerances during manufacture of turbocharger housing in sheet-metal construction pose therefore a problem.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved method of making a turbocharger housing to obviate prior art shortcomings and to produce a turbocharger housing of superior efficiency.